Did Asuka RETIRE at Backlash 2026?!

WWE Backlash 2026 was absolute chaos and we’re breaking down ALL the hot takes from the entire show. Did Asuka quietly retire after her emotional loss to Iyo Sky? Was the moment connected to Kairi Sane reportedly being released by WWE/TKO? We’re diving deep into the rumors, the reactions, and whether this was the end of an era for one of WWE’s greatest stars.

Plus, we cover every major moment from WWE Backlash 2026 including shocking finishes, crowd reactions, questionable booking decisions, breakout performances, and the matches everyone will be arguing about all week.

And on top of THAT… John Cena announces a brand-new championship for the “John Cena Classic.” What does it mean for WWE going forward? Is this another legendary Cena moment… or complete nonsense?

🔥 Hot takes.
🔥 Fan reactions.
🔥 Instant analysis.
🔥 No sugarcoating.

#WWE #Backlash #Asuka #IyoSky #JohnCena #wwebacklash

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Transcript

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Okay, we are 24 hours removed from backlash. And did Asuka pull a Brock Lesnar and retire in the ring? Like, boy howdy was not seeing that coming. In fact, I was paying attention for signs of Kyrie Sane and totally did not catch that Asuka was retiring before my eyes. I felt like a moron later when I'm seeing social media posts reporting that Asuka might have quit. And I'm like, wait a second, Asuka didn't quit last night. And then I replayed, I replayed everything in my head, and I was like, oh my god, did she? Maybe. Oh my god, she did. I went to her Instagram and there's uh Frank Sinatra my way on it. I'm like, she's done so. I totally did not understand and appreciate the gravity of what was happening when Asuka hugged EO last night. All right, let's do some hot takes. I'll dress more of it. I think I'm gonna do an Asuka appreciation video later in the week. It's all dependent on my work schedule. Let's talk, let's talk the belt first, then we'll get into some backlash hot takes. This belt right here, you can win it. I'm giving it away at 30,000 subscribers on my quest to quit my day job. All you gotta do is comment below and subscribe to the channel. You can win. It's not a toy, it's a replica. All right, let's do some Asuka hot takes and backlash in general. LT says, I hope Asuka enjoys retirement. Her reaction after the match gave major retirement vibes. Oh yeah, I know. Because when Brock, when Brock Lesnar was retiring and putting in his boots, I was feeling it. You know, I was feeling it in real time. But I had to feel the Asuka stuff in hindsight where I kind of just was like, wait a second. And I had to piece it all together after the fact. And yeah, just I I I wish I would have, I wish I would have been living more in the moment. Just call me underscore D. Was that it for Asuka in WWE? If so, she had an amazing last showing. Yes, it was a really good match, probably match of the night. I really enjoyed Seth and Braun Breaker, actually. But I think one of the things that took me out of the Asuka EO match for the first like half of the match, I was kind of I was looking for Kyrie Sain. That's on me. That is on me. I did not enjoy the match as much as I should have because I was too busy looking for story elements. That be a life lesson to you, people. Stop and smell the roses, just enjoy what's happening in front of you because I missed out on celebrating the the creativity and greatness of that match. I will say though that I loved when EO blocked the mist. I never saw that before. I've seen people spitting in people's face for for over 30 years. Muta, Muta, Tajiri, all these guys doing it. This was the first time I've ever seen, ever seen someone block a spit to the face with just something. You know, and Carmichael says the moment when Asuka just broke into smiling, I let out an audible awww. I think both her and Eo are feeling the loss of Kyrie. I could totally see Asuka just being like, yeah, maybe this just isn't as fun as it used to be. That's me, that's me, like, you know, putting thoughts in her head. But like, what if it was? I mean, imagine the disrespect. The disrespect you and and your partner in crime, you have a running storyline that people are invested in, and it keeps getting kind of shoved into the corner so other people can get the spotlight, and then finally, finally, you're about to have the big payoff, and then they fire one of them. I totally get why if Kyrie Sane was the last draw, I totally get it. I totally get why that would have been the thing that made Asuka retire. And I I'm happy though for her, though. If this is if this is her swan song, I'm glad she got to do it on her terms. And I am very confident that EOSky is definitely somebody that she would have wanted to have her last match with. So that was super cool. That was super cool. At least she didn't have to fight Gunther. MGT Wrestling says, where the heck were the Usos when Roman was getting choked out yesterday? Yeah, you know, I thought the same thing. Roman is getting just completely destroyed last night and actually the last two Monday night raws as well. And the Usos are nowhere to be seen? That's a little weird. And it's like, what are the point of the Usos even right now? They're not going for the tag team title. They're they're talking for Roman Reigns when Roman isn't around on SmackDown, but they're raw people. So I just don't get what's happening because then when Roman gets beat up, the Usos don't come and help. So what what like for real? What is the actual point of the Usos right now? What is their role in WWE? DS Wise Mark says, I believe it's better for Kit Wilson to move away from the Danhausen storyline. He's getting buried, he was so cool on his own. I mean, maybe, like, I I see what you're saying, and a part of me agrees with it, but I also know that Kit Wilson, he's kind of a character that gets a lot of TV time, but not PLE matches. So, in a program with Dan Housen has got him actual big exposure. And where where does Kit Wilson go after this? I I get it, all things do have to come to an end, but Kit Wilson can only go so far with that character, and that's not a bad thing. I mean, our truth can only go so far with his character. Santino Morella could only go so far with their character, but but that said, those kind of characters, while there is a ceiling to them, they usually last longer on the main roster because they fit a role that not many can fit. Daniel Kincher says people forget that Danhausen can actually wrestle, but all around, a good show, in my opinion. Yeah, you know, Danhausen can wrestle, although I loved when he was like, when he was running and he he got out of breath. But I'm very happy that Minihausen was able to showcase his talents as well. The one sheep says, I fully expected Asuka to attack EO after the match, but I'm happy to see Asuka taking a loss like a champion. Yeah, you know, I thought that too. Honestly, I just thought that this was just the storyline was just, you know, going to the next chapter, not the end of the book. That's where that's why I kind of didn't catch that she was retiring until like a couple hours after the actual PLE. Eric Shook says, better than WrestleMania? Hmm. I think it was better than night one. Night two, debatable. The the main event of night two plus Oba retiring Brock and the ladder match. No, the uh backlash was better than night one, but not better than night two, in my opinion. Roman Reigns Acknowledge Me says the Cena announcement actually was awesome and didn't suck like the club WWE. I'm gonna be honest, Roman Reigns Acknowledge Me, who actually he did win the 20,000 subscriber belt giveaway. Gonna mail that out on Tuesday. I am uh the jury's still out for me on the John Cena tournament. I'm happy that they're trying new things, but to me, it's kind of weird still, and I'm not I'm not on board with it just yet. I'm not like I don't want to take a dump on it. I'm just gonna have a wait and see attitude. Dashi says I was on the stream, and so many were complaining that EO versus Asuka was so long. So either they complained the matches at Mania were too short, and now they complain that they're too long. Well, you know, here's the deal. Here's the deal. The people that are gonna complain, they're always gonna be the loudest. So I'm sure whoever was complaining about the matches too short at Mania weren't the same people complaining about the matches being too long at Backlash. That's just life. No matter what where you go, the the complainers are always gonna be the loudest. I wouldn't say don't listen to people who complain because sometimes they have valid arguments, but I would say you always gotta like take it with the grained salt and not let it impede on your own enjoyment. Fazerup999 said, I really thought when Minnie Hausen went into the cloning machine, Obafemi was gonna come out and take his spot. Yeah, I thought someone bigger was gonna come out, like Omos. I was thinking maybe Omas because Oba Femi might be too serious of a character right now, but Omos is in triple A, so we could have had a one-off appearance. But, you know, all in all, it was fun. It was fun. Did it? I had 20, I did 20 guesses who it was gonna be, and I was wrong on all of them, but I was thoroughly sports entertained nonetheless. Tiz Mickey says, Wow, that was better than I expected. I thought every match was great and longer than 10 minutes. LOL. Yeah, I believe the stats right now is that this was 50% wrestling and 50% ads and everything else. I think Backlash actually had more wrestling than WrestleMania did per night. And the John Cena Classic is a great idea. I'm glad you like it. I'm glad you like it. Right now, like I said, jury's still out for me, but I hope, I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm proven wrong. Only thing is NXT is kind of empty right now. It'll probably happen in December. John Cena purposely chose December as his final, his final appearance because that was when business was at the lowest. So John Cena wanted to do something big in December. Therefore, I could see John Cena wanting to do something big again, like his classic in December. And by then, NXT will have rebuilt its roster. And then also, Tizmickey says how she's gonna be gone for about a month to do some job training. We're gonna miss you. I love your hot takes, but I wish you the best of luck in your training. And uh we'll see you when you get back. I'll keep the lights on. JBL says Braun winning was 100% the right move. I agree, I agree. Now, I I don't want us to just completely job out Seth Rollins. I feel that Seth definitely is still needs to be in the main event scene and everything, but that said, we needed, we needed to rehabilitate the the image of Braun Breaker because in the beginning of the year, I've said it many times that the way they were treating him made me lose a lot of my enthusiasm towards him. And giving him a win here at Backlash was a good, good first step in rebuilding the the reputation that is Braun Breaker. Nicholas Getting says fans vote on a champion, but the loser can still win. Hate it. Sorry. Yeah, that's my fear too. Okay, so if the fans are still gonna vote then and vote people in, then honestly, the fans are going to the fans are gonna be fans and they're gonna troll WWE. This happens all the time. I remember a long time ago, I can't remember who it was. It might have been Times magazine, it might have even been AOL, but back in the day, like the the the 90s, I remember there was a vote on who was the person of the year, and they had, you know, the Pope, the president, and all these like world-famous, important people. And Mick Foley, mankind ended up winning because the WWE audience hijacked the vote and wrote Mankind in, Mick Foley in. It's great for a laugh, but at the end of the day, will this championship be legit if it's just gonna be a troll vote? But Jimbo Slice has a counterpoint. I think the Cena Classic is a brilliant idea. It's not necessarily about winning, it's about how you connect with the audience, which for pro wrestling is more important than winning. And that is true, that is true. I mean, think about this kit Wilson, he has connected with the audience, and Ilya Dragonoff has not connected with the audience. Ilya had a lot of championship wins when he was the US champion, many, many wins for many, many weeks. And yet, and yet Kit Wilson, who literally lost to a country singer, Jelly Roll, is on a PLE because Kit has been able to connect. So, you know, Jimbo Slice does have a point here. Andre Bryant says, Will the Cena Championship be a non-canon championship? Will John Cena's belt matter? I don't think it's gonna be like the the greatest Royal Rumble, which was a one and done, but I think it's gonna be like the Riyadh uh crown jewel champion, where it's like it's a real championship. They break it out once a year, but it means nothing. It's gonna be like, Did you know that Jay Uso won the Andre the Giant Battle Royal? And that's about it. Did you know that JC Jane is the John Cena uh classic champion of 2026? It's probably not gonna be important in the grand scheme of things. Money on Repeat says, I like how the tongue and death grip can be used out of nowhere, but for it to be such a sacred move, we've already overused it. Yeah, you know, think about this. This move hasn't been in play for 20 years, and I think it was applied to Roman like four or five times last night. So I get what you're saying. You know, maybe just pull back, pay pull back. It's cool that it can be out of nowhere like an RKO, but usually one RKO will do the trick. So if if uh Jacob is gonna be able to get the tongue and death grip in, let it be a one and done. Try Ninja77 says Dan Housen is the only good thing about the show. I disagree. I thought Dan Housen was a great thing about the show, but EO and Asuka, that was a great match. I love the ascension of Jacob Fatu as a main event player, even though he lost, he looked like a big deal. And I liked this, Jason. Jacob Fatu, this this unhinged crazy man. Trick Williams, Sammy Zayn. I didn't I didn't have anybody really talk about them today, but that was like I really enjoyed the story that they were telling. How Sami Zayn is now a villain, but he doesn't understand why he's a villain. Trick Williams just being tricked, no matter how much of a jerk he is or how conceited and egotistical he is, he's just so alluring that that fans can't help but to love him. And then and then Seth freaking Rollins and Braun Breaker. I thought that was a fantastic match. I thought that was a great match. So, like Danhausen was good, but I thought there was a lot to be satisfied with with this show. Paul Cribbs says, Why would a turnbuckle hurt a Samoan's head? No continuity. You know, you're right. I did not catch that. Like, it's a historic fact. I mean, we're talking like for decades, if you headbutt a Samoan, they don't feel it. In fact, it kind of like it's it kind of empowers them. So it's like kind of like when you slap someone and they're like, yeah, it like it gives them like Samoan rage, even. So for for an exposed turnbuckle to be the thing that does in, that does end Jacob Fatu, you are actually right. That is not continuity. And I know a lot of people might be like, oh, what a nerd. No, the devil is in the details. It's the details that make stories great and epic. And and you should pay attention. Like a Samoan should not have been taken out by a exposed turnbuckle. I agree with that, with that hot take. All right, boys, alright, girls. See you tomorrow for Monday Night Raw. Bye.